Effects of forest harvesting disturbance on aquatic birds in the boreal forest of Alberta / Johanna Patricia Pierre
Material type:
TextPublication details: Edmonton, AB : University of Alberta, 2001.Description: 137 leaves : ill. ; 28 cmSubject(s): Online resources: Abstract: Effects of disturbances on some community characteristics may transcend habitat and taxonomic boundaries. For example, the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) purports that communities display their highest species richness at intermediate levels of disturbance. In the past, organisms sensitive to disturbance have been used as indicators of anthropogenic impacts on the environment. I examined aquatic bird communities in boreal Alberta, on 'harvested lakes' (forest harvesting closer than 450 m, within three years of my study) and 'unharvested lakes' (no harvesting within at least 450 m of the shore), to determine whether harvesting disturbance affected (i) species richness, following the IDH, (ii) community composition, and (iii) species densities. To investigate mechanisms linking harvesting disturbance to aquatic birds,I examined (i) community-environment and density-environment relationships, (ii) nest predation, and (iii) foraging patterns.
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Thesis(Ph.D.)--University of Alberta, 2001.
Effects of disturbances on some community characteristics may transcend habitat and taxonomic boundaries. For example, the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) purports that communities display their highest species richness at intermediate levels of disturbance. In the past, organisms sensitive to disturbance have been used as indicators of anthropogenic impacts on the environment. I examined aquatic bird communities in boreal Alberta, on 'harvested lakes' (forest harvesting closer than 450 m, within three years of my study) and 'unharvested lakes' (no harvesting within at least 450 m of the shore), to determine whether harvesting disturbance affected (i) species richness, following the IDH, (ii) community composition, and (iii) species densities. To investigate mechanisms linking harvesting disturbance to aquatic birds,I examined (i) community-environment and density-environment relationships, (ii) nest predation, and (iii) foraging patterns.